Large 4th-grade population

May 01, 2002

in 2002 creates challenge

By HILLARY DICKERSON

GAYLORD - Next year's fourth-grade class at Gaylord Community Schools (GCS) has been on the minds of administrators for the past few months as numbers showed 291 students moving into the intermediate school, creating a "bubble" in its wake as classes on either side of the fourth grade remained smaller in size.

Examining projected numbers, the overall class size presented a potential headache for the district as it prepared to move the students from the three separate elementary buildings into the intermediate building, which offers no room for growth. Supt. Carl Hilling is now confident the problem has been solved for the coming year.

To come up with a viable solution, Hilling handed the reins to elementary principals Dennis O'Brien, Donna Polus and Betty Hartmann; Gaylord Intermediate School (GIS) administrators Ed Sandri and Rich Marshall; Human Resources Director Cherie Nutter; and Transportation Supervisor Sue Jenkins. Hilling said he pulled people from various areas to ensure all sides of the issue were considered, and then went with their final recommendation.

Advertisement

"My only instruction to that committee was we've got a problem," Hilling noted Thursday, adding he wanted a decision with which everyone would be comfortable. "I have to bring the principals in on this because it affects their buildings."

After an hour of discussion, the committee came back with a recommendation to maintain one section of 18 fourth-graders at Elmira Elementary to relieve some of the pressure at GIS and allow for possible growth. Hilling said Hartmann conducted a survey of Elmira third-grade parents which showed only four or five families preferred their children attend GIS. Those children will go to GIS next year while their other classmates remain at Elmira.

To account for the added students at Elmira, one class of multiage (second- and third-grade) students and a separate room for the fourth grade will be put in place.

"Is this the best solution? No, but it's the best we could do," Hilling noted, addressing the fact not everyone is thrilled with the plan. According to the superintendent, with the new plan, the anticipated student teacher ratio will be in the area of 27-to-1.

The superintendent outlined the expected increase in students filtering into GIS fourth-grade classes next fall. Currently there are 10 classrooms of fourth-graders; as it was earlier - before the Elmira solution - 11 sections would have been entering the building in 10 rooms. Using the numbers available now from this year's third-grade class, 291 fourth-graders are expected - not taking into account any students who move in or out of the school system. If 18 stay at Elmira and the rest are divided among 10 classes at GIS, the average would be 27 per room.

Hilling continued by explaining that if all 11 sections were put into 10 rooms, the student count in each room would have been over 30 per teacher. According to Article VII of the 2000-03 Master Agreement between the board of education and the Gaylord Education Association, the district-wide average student teacher ratio must be less than 24-to-1.

Hopeful the issue is solved for next year, Hilling said one third-grade section at North Ohio likely will not be replaced after the retirement of teacher Betty Hamilton. Instead, second-graders will be absorbed by the other third-grade classes.